By cleverly patching into the test button on an old smoke detector he created a circuit-trip alarm. One side of each piece of wire is secured to the frame and jam of a window. A paper clip ...

In most cases, a fire alarm system will not be on its own circuit. Local fire codes often require the smoke detectors to share a lighting or outlet circuit to prevent owners from shutting them off ...

Imagine a smoke detector that, instead of warning residents of smoke before a fire engulfs their home, is placed in ...

Noisy electrical circuits have appeared in these pages ... in the form of the ionisation chamber that’s part of most household smoke detectors. [Lukas Koch] has built a project that shows ...

Ions are tiny, electrically charged particles that flow through the circuit and between the two plates. When smoke enters the detector, it disrupts the flow of current and activates the alarm.